


Orange

by OveliaGirlHaditRight



Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: Dylan bashing. I'm sorry, F/M, Fluff, Gen, I also want Kairi to meet friends in other worlds like Sora did and to become strong like them, Multi, Oneshot, Post-KHIII, Slight crossover but not really, Slight crossover with Maximum Ride (books) that is, Wish-Fulfillment, You don't need to know Maximum Ride to appreciate this I think, and for Kairi's life to not resolve around Sora tbh, light - Freeform, slight crack
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-02
Updated: 2020-05-02
Packaged: 2021-03-01 19:41:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,904
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23972422
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OveliaGirlHaditRight/pseuds/OveliaGirlHaditRight
Summary: Kairi actually runs into Sora again in Maximum Ride's world, of all places, and soon after they're reunited... they go on an ice cream date there. But Kairi may be holding back letting herself get close to Sora again to protect herself. But after this story unfolds, she realizes why she shouldn't do that. Oneshot. Crossover.
Relationships: Dylan Wants Max but She's Not Interested, Eluded to Max/Fang, Kairi & Maximum Ride, Kairi/Sora (Kingdom Hearts), Max and Nudge, Sora & Maximum Ride, The Flock - Relationship
Comments: 3
Kudos: 1





	Orange

**Author's Note:**

> This entire story is somewhat wish-fulfillment, and born of me needing some more SoKai light fluff out there right now, and I’m sorry.
> 
> Also, I know I have stuff on the Maximum Ride timeline messed up (it’s been a long while since I’ve read MR, guys)… but I also don’t care, because the later books suck… and Sora and Kairi being at places always changes things from their canon, anyway.
> 
> Kairi knowing Max Guevara (from Dark Angel) is a reference to another story of mine, that I may or may not repost.

Kairi—on her long journey to find him—had ended up liking orange more than pink: she was telling Sora that now, as they ate orange sherbet together on a date.  
  
Apparently, a girl named “Maximum Ride”—who lived on this world—had taught Kairi the wonders of the latter… but on this date after she’d rescued him, the only thing Kairi seemed able to talk about was Max… and Sora tried not to be offended by that.  
  
"Of this group I met, with bird DNA in them, Max is the one who in particular helped me to be strong. She pushed this new member of their ‘flock’ out a window, so he could learn to fly on his own. And seeing that, pushed me to try new things, too.”  
  
"That's... neat, that _you_ met a new Max, Kairi," Sora said gently, as he leaned across the table they were at and took her hand."...I feel we're all meeting a few Maxes lately."  
  
And indeed, they had. Sora had met Max Goof—his favorites of the Maxes, of course. Though it had been crazy that Goofy had had a son all along, but had taken so long to tell Sora about him!—and Kairi had also met a “Max Guevara”, who she’d been fawning over like she now was Maximum Ride... …And Sora had also met a Max Lightwood, and that broke his heart to this day.  
  
And Kairi must have seen that he was hurt by where his thoughts had taken him, because she stopped whatever she’d been saying then and came over to sit on Sora’s lap to comfort him… scandalizing a few of the people in this ice cream shop to do so, but Sora wasn’t complaining and neither was Kairi. "Sora… am I monopolizing the conversation? What’s wrong, baby?"  
  
"It's just- didn't you miss me at all?!" Sora blurted out before he could stop himself. Rats. If only he’d clapped a hand over his mouth just a second earlier!  
  
Kairi got a faraway look in her eyes then, that Sora had first realized she often did when trying to think back on her time in Radiant Garden. And she got off of him, so she could lean in front of him so they were at eye level. "…Of course I missed you, Sora? And how could you even ask differently? But missing your hurt me so much, that you can’t even begin to- So I'm sorry if I had to learn to focus on some other things to survive the pain, and am still doing that. But you're always my number one priority."  
  
And her voice was _so_ small at the end of that sentence, that Sora instantly realized what a jerk he’d been being... Kairi was allowed to grieve in every way she needed to. And he was the one who had put her through the ringer to begin with, so who was he to complain? Kairi deserved one better than that, so Sora decided he was going to embrace the conversation they’d been having if that was what Kairi wanted. "…But why'd you settle on orange as your new favorite color, Kai? Because Max introduced you to the wonders of orange sherbet, I know... But is there more to it than that? You've really liked pink here lately... so did you choose orange as your backup—after… after what happened to you in the Keyblade Graveyard when you war it—because that ‘Legally Blonde’ movie had people saying orange was the new pink, or whatever?"  
  
As metrosexual as Sora could be—and he'd even admit that he _was_ that—he couldn't believe he remembered such a girly movie, to be honest. But Kairi had loved it… so he’d had to force himself to somewhat, too.  
  
"Actually... yes," and in apparently deciding to reward him for his having paid attention to her and her movie, Kairi leaned across the table and kissed Sora on the cheek… and this seemed to get a few complaints from the peanut gallery. But since they clearly preferred just a sweet kiss on the cheek as opposed to her sitting on his lap, this wasn’t the more vocal part of the parlor. Nah. Those guys were more focused on a sport that was on the TV. "But there’s more to that answer too, Sora. It’s also because orange somewhat looks like a bleeding version of pink. And if one of us has to bleed out in a war next time... I want it to be me, not you."  
  
"Kairi-" Sora started to protest... but when he remembered how Kairi had had her free will taken away from her again and again… he didn't. If Kairi felt this way, she was more than entitled to say so, without him fighting with her over those words… even if Sora _would_ still do everything he could to protect Kairi, but also respect her agency.  
  
And it was just as Sora was thinking that, that the said Max from before, came thundering into the store—breaking a window to do so, even—with her sandy blonde hair a somewhat wreck and her wings were extended. "I am going to _kill_ Dylan," she exclaimed, as her eyes found Kairi. And Sora had to smile.  
  
This girl's irritation with this "Dylan" reminded Sora of how Riku had driven him insane during his first journey. And perhaps it was arrogant to imagine this... but if Max was a bit like him, Sora could get why Kairi liked her.  
  
"Max!" Kairi shouted, as she ran over to her friend and held her hand for a moment. “What’s wrong?!”  
  
But Kairi wasn't the only one who seemed to note that something was wrong with Max—or notice her at all—Sora saw. Numerous people were now going up to Max and asking her if everything was okay with the Flock. And Max looked as though she wanted to reassure some of them, but punch the lights out of others. But finally, she settled on, "We're- we’re fine. We got attacked by a pair of Erasers today, so that's why I accidentally crashed into your window here. Sorry. Now, if you'll excuse me, I’m going to make sure there aren’t more Erasers around to harm you fine citizens."  
  
And as soon as she'd made her leave of the people surrounding her, Max signaled to Kairi that she could come with her outside—though through the door—and Sora and Kairi did just that. They were on some grassy hill that led to a mountain and some impressive house atop it… and suddenly it dawned on Sora from what Kairi had told him before, that that was the Flock’s house… and this ice cream shop must have recently been built at the base of it. Go figure.  
  
“Kairi,” Max said, as she led their trek back up the mountain—she must have been walking for them, Sora guessed, and looking out for the wolf-children that Kairi had also told him about as she did so—"I regret that I ever took Dylan on as a flying student over you. I swear I'm going to take him to that cave with the owls that Fang found, and let them have at him. Because I swear, he won’t win their favor like Fang did.”  
  
“Does this Dylan have a crush on you?” Sora asked as he summoned his Keyblade to hand just in case. The way that Max spoke of this guy, reminded Sora of his own feelings about how Alice had felt for him, to be honest.  
  
"And why isn’t the Flock helping you against his unwanted feelings? They don’t actually want you with him do th- oh, wait. Angel does, doesn’t she?”  
  
“She sure does!” Max answered Kairi’s question with such anger, that Sora was certain if Max had punched at her mountain now… her fist would have gone straight to the other side of it. “And what’s worse is that she somehow convinced everyone else to kick me out of the house!”  
  
That sounded… really crappy to Sora. He knew little about Max, but it seemed to him that she was the leader of her group of friends. And if Sora’s own had ever kicked him out… well, he probably would have listened to them—because that was just the kind of guy he was—but he still would have been hurt by it!  
  
“It sounds to me, Max—and I’m Sora, by the way. I’m sure Kairi told you about me—that you should go find this guy you really seem to like… Fang, was it? And force him back with you. Then together, you guys can confront the Flock. And then if they still don’t want you around… Well, then I don’t think they’re really your friends.”  
  
Max looked at Sora for a long moment—seeming like she wanted to sass him, perhaps. And if that was the case, and Kairi had been hanging around this girl, Sora wondered if that meant Kairi would stop being so somber—before giving him a wide smile and ruffling his hair once. “That’s actually not a bad idea, dear Sora! I don’t know why I’ve gotten so self-conscious here. That isn’t me… I’m going to go in guns blazing, like you said, and hope that Dylan gets the memo and leaves. But first I’m going to go see if I can get Nudge to my side. See you!”  
  
And then she was flying up towards her house, where this “Nudge” presumably lived.  
  
…This whole encounter with Max had been more peaceful than Sora had thought it would be—since she’d said that monsters were chasing her, and Sora really saw no sign of that—and Sora was about to whirl on Kairi that he thought Max had lied about getting thrown into the ice cream shop via Erasers or whatever, when she was suddenly kissing him.  
  
Oh. That was nice. She tasted like cherries, as opposed to her usual strawberries, and she was bringing him as flush against her as she could as she used one hand to tangle in his hair. In shock of all of this, Sora barely even remembered to wrap his arms around her back as he deepened the kiss.  
  
But just as soon as it had started, it was ending with Kairi pulling away. And Sora couldn’t help questioning her, as they still stood close together with their saliva linking them for a hot second? “Kairi?” Sora asked, as he took a step back.  
  
But Kairi just smiled at him… “Seeing Max resolve to fix things with Fang, made me realize I have been being too distant with you here, Sora. And I’m sorry. I’m trying to protect my heart… but that’s no excuse. But I’m done with that now. I’m even done with having fantasies of me dying on the battlefield instead of you, if that’s what you want… Why don’t you say we go back home to the paopu tree, and really make this day about us?”  
  
“Let’s!” Sora grinned. And in some irony that didn’t bother Sora in the slightest now, the sun decided to set in a beautiful blood orange color, just as the two of them found a teleportation device that would take them back to the Gummi Ship and faded away in a flash of green… holding onto each other all the while.


End file.
